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Program Overview

The SHARE program supports undergraduate research projects in the social sciences, humanities, and arts. SHARE is designed especially for students in the earlier stages of their college careers as a means of introducing students to research in their chosen field and of developing skills they will need for further research projects.

In this research apprenticeship, students spend an average of 9 hours per week during the spring semester working on a faculty project. Ideally, a SHARE partnership will continue past the spring semester, allowing both faculty mentor and student apprentice to continue the project, potentially leading to a more independent role for the student.

During the Spring semester, student apprentices will receive a $1,500 stipend, and faculty mentors will receive a $500 professional development stipend.

SHARE Teams
SHARE teams consist of a faculty mentor and one student apprentice who apply jointly for the program. Faculty members are encouraged to recruit student apprentices to work with them on a potential SHARE project, and students interested in the program may also approach faculty members to express their interest in a potential project.

Please note: *Only ONE* SHARE student will be funded to work with a particular faculty member.

Must be a full-time faculty member in the social sciences, humanities, or arts at any UConn campus

May submit one (exceptionally, two) SHARE application(s) per application cycle

May reapply in subsequent years with the same or different projects

AWARD CONDITIONS

Funded projects will start in the spring semester.

For funded projects involving human subjects, documentation of IRB approval or of a complete IRB protocol submission must be sent to OUR as part of the award acceptance process. The deadline for award acceptance is Monday, December 9, 2019, so please plan your IRB timeline accordingly.

For funded projects, faculty mentors agree to complete the necessary Employee Safety Training Assessment (ESTA) with the student apprentice to determine the required safety training, and assist the student in enrolling in training courses.

Students agree to devote an average of 9 hours/week to the project for 14 weeks during the semester.

Students receive a $1500 stipend, paid out as an hourly wage.

Faculty members receive a $500 professional development stipend at the start of the semester.

Both student and faculty will independently complete an online, weekly activity log via a link to be sent by OUR.

SHARE award recipients must present at the Frontiers in Undergraduate Research Poster Exhibition (during the SHARE funded semester, the following fall, or the following spring).

Student recipients must submit a SHARE Completion Form to the Office of Undergraduate Research by Friday, May 10, 2020.

Faculty recipients must submit a SHARE Student Apprentice Assessment Form to the Office of Undergraduate Research by Friday, May 10, 2020.

Application Deadline

Applications for the 2020 SHARE Awards will open in September 2019. The deadline to submit a SHARE 2020 application is Monday, October 21, 2019, 11:59pm.

Award decisions will be sent out in late November 2019. Awards must be formally accepted by Monday, December 9, 2019.

Submit an Application

Applications are now closed.

The application for the 2020 SHARE Awards will open in September 2019.

Student Application Instructions

SHARE teams consist of a faculty mentor and one student apprentice who apply jointly for the program. The student application outline gives you the information that you will need to provide and questions you will need to answer in the SHARE online application.

Applications are submitted via the Quest Portal. You can initiate and begin working on your SHARE application as soon as the online application opens.

Your faculty mentor gains access to their section of the SHARE application when you send him/her an invitation. You will need to complete the “Request a Recommendation” section of the application and enter your mentor’s name and email address in order to send the invitation.

Applicants are encouraged to initiate the recommendation request well ahead of the October 21, 2019 application deadline to give your faculty mentor time to complete their section of the SHARE application by the deadline.

Your faculty mentor cannot complete their section of the application until you have initiated your application and completed the recommendation request. You can complete your section of the application and mark it complete in the Quest Portal while your mentor is also working on their section. The joint application is not complete until the accompanying Faculty Mentor section of the application is also submitted.

Students, please note that the final question on the application will ask you to certify that you have prepared your application materials in accordance with University standards for academic integrity. Learn more about academic integrity.

Faculty Mentor Application Instructions

The student apprentice will initiate the SHARE application via the Quest Portal. As part of the student portion of the application, he/she will be asked to provide the name and email address for their faculty mentor in order to “request a recommendation.” The recommendation request provides faculty mentors access to their section of the SHARE application.

The faculty recommendation will serve as the faculty SHARE Award application. You cannot complete your portion of the application until your student mentee has initiated the SHARE application.

Once the student has initiated the application and completed the recommendation request, you will receive an email from the “UConn Quest Portal” (email address is noreply@smapply.io) with instructions for completing your portion of the application.

If the student has initiated the request, but you cannot locate the email, you can go directly to the Quest Portal to submit your portion of the application. The main Quest Portal page can be accessed at https://quest.uconn.edu. Click “Log In” in the top right, select “UConn Single Sign-On” and log in with your netID and password.

If you have multiple “roles” in the system (such as Applicant, Reviewer, Recommender), you will need to select “Recommender” in order to see the request and complete your portion of the application.

Information for Faculty Mentors

The research apprenticeship opportunity offered by the SHARE program provides faculty members with eager assistants for faculty-driven projects, allowing faculty members to focus on their own research interests while introducing future researchers to the reality of research in their intended discipline. There is also a potential to continue the student’s involvement with the project past the tenure of the SHARE program, through independent study or research credits.

Faculty mentors will benefit from the assistance of the research apprentice, who will be able to provide support for the faculty mentor with aspects of a project including, but not limited to: library research, assisting in experiments, coding and/or analyzing data, and conducting and/or transcribing interviews. For their commitment to mentoring the student apprentice, faculty mentors will receive a $500 professional development stipend at the start of the semester.

Please note that it is expected that students will prepare their own application materials in consultation with you. The final question on the student application will the student to certify that he/she has prepared his/her application materials in accordance with University standards for academic integrity.

In SHARE teams, faculty mentors serve as “master researchers” to their student apprentices, exposing the students to research methods and procedures. As such, faculty mentors agree to:

Directly mentor the student apprentice, including regular face-to-face meetings to discuss the project;

Provide oversight and feedback for the student on his/her work throughout the project;

Ensure that the student is adequately trained and added to any pertinent research compliance protocols;

Provide sufficient tasks and duties for the student apprentice to fulfill the required 10 hours/week devoted to the SHARE project;

Complete a brief weekly checklist indicating which tasks the student worked on that week;

Complete the student apprentice assessment form at the end of the semester to offer feedback on the student’s performance and contribution to the project; and

Make sure the student submits timesheets on a biweekly basis that accord with hours worked.

Please note: For funded projects involving human subjects, documentation of IRB approval or of a complete IRB protocol submission must be sent to OUR as part of the award acceptance process. The deadline for award acceptance is Monday, December 9, 2019, so please plan your IRB timeline accordingly.

Working with a SHARE Apprentice

A SHARE research apprentice can support your work in a variety of ways while also deepening their understanding of the research or creative process. The research skills apprentices develop, the exposure to an area or topic of interest, and the valuable mentorship they receive can serve as a foundation for sustained participation in research.

The list below highlights some activities and tasks that SHARE apprentices have engaged in while participating in a faculty mentor’s research and creative activities.

Wrote some of all of a piece of academic writing/output (e.g. article, book chapter, policy memo, grant proposal, poster)

Attended a talk, presentation, conference, or other academic event

Made a project-related presentation to an audience

Criteria for Review and Selection

Applications will be reviewed by an interdisciplinary faculty committee and assessed on the following dimensions:

Potential for student intellectual growth

Student interest and knowledge

Quality of student proposal

Role of student mentee in project

Faculty mentoring

Selection of student as research mentee

The review committee uses the Evaluation Rubric for SHARE Applications to assess proposed projects. Student and faculty applicants are encouraged to review the rubric as they draft and revise their application materials to ensure that they meet the criteria associated with strong proposals.

I’m a freshman. Can I apply for a SHARE Award? What should I enter in the GPA field of the application?

Yes, you can apply. First-, second-, and third-year students interested in getting involved in research are encouraged to participate in the SHARE program to gain the experience and knowledge necessary to continue research in their discipline. Freshmen have received SHARE Awards in past competitions. Please enter 0.00 in the application field that requests a GPA as you do not yet have a UConn GPA.

What are the benefits of participating in a SHARE project?

Because you will be paired with a faculty member on his/her research project, you’ll benefit from close interaction and a mentoring relationship with an expert in your field. You’ll develop as a scholar as you gain first-hand experience with practical application of concepts learned in classes. Students are encouraged to continue their work on the SHARE project with their faculty mentor in subsequent semesters through independent study or research credits. The SHARE project experience can also provide a foundation for independent research leading to the completion of an Honors thesis or capstone project.

How many hours per week will I be expected to work?

During the funded semester, you will be expected to commit an average of 9 hours per week for 14 weeks. You will receive your $1,500 award as an hourly wage.

What are the student apprentice’s responsibilities during the SHARE project?

As a student apprentice, you are responsible for fulfilling all the terms of the SHARE program, including:

Devoting 9 hours/week to the SHARE project for the 14-week Spring semester;

Working directly with your faculty mentor, including meeting regularly, completing assigned tasks, and adhering to any additional requirements set out in the project agreement;

Completing a brief weekly checklist indicating which tasks you worked on that week;

Submitting a SHARE Completion Form to the OUR at the end of the SHARE semester; and

Presenting a poster at the Frontiers in Undergraduate Research Poster Exhibition in the fall or spring semester. Note that a spring presentation can take place during your SHARE semester or the following year.

How can I find a faculty mentor to work with?

Students interested in the SHARE program are encouraged to approach faculty members in their departments or related fields to express interest in partnering on a SHARE project. If you have ideas for a potential research project, familiarize yourself with the faculty research going on in your department and related fields to find faculty members with research interests similar to yours. Be sure to set up an appointment or stop by office hours to talk to the faculty member in person. Once you have a faculty mentor, you will submit a joint application to the OUR.

Can I get course credit for working on a SHARE project?

Under certain circumstances, it may be possible to earn credit for work associated with the SHARE project. The availability of credit will ultimately be determined by the department, and you are encouraged to discuss the possibility with your faculty mentor. In order to earn course credit through an independent study or research course, you will be required to complete additional work outside of the 9 hours/week devoted to the SHARE program. The supplemental work should be of an academic nature and might include writing a final paper about your findings or experience during the SHARE work, contributing to a paper or article with your faculty mentor, or another assignment at the faculty mentor’s discretion.

Can I continue working on the SHARE project after the funded semester?

Yes! Students and faculty mentors are encouraged to continue working on the SHARE project past the funded semester. Express your interest in continuing your work on the project with your faculty mentor at the beginning of the project, to start considering different options. You may also opt to continue your research on an independent project, perhaps leading to the completion of an Honors thesis or capstone project.

How are SHARE funds disbursed?

The Office of Undergraduate Research will arrange for the student to be added to payroll and paid for hours reported on biweekly timesheets (submitted electronically via the CoreCT system) up to the $1,500 award amount. The $500 faculty professional development stipend will be transferred to the ledger 2 account provided by the faculty member on the award letter.

I have questions about SHARE. Is there someone I can speak with?

If you have questions about SHARE or the application process, contact the Office of Undergraduate Research at our@uconn.edu or schedule an appointment with an OUR Advisor via Nexus under “Enrichment Programs.”

I was not selected to receive a SHARE Award. Can you tell me why?

OUR staff are available to meet with applicants to provide feedback about the strengths and weaknesses the review committee identified in their proposals. We will not provide rubrics, scores, or name the reviewers of particular proposals.

Make an Impact! Apply for a UConn Co-op Legacy Fellowship – Change Grant!

UConn undergraduates in all majors can apply for up to $2000 in funding to support projects that represent the legacy of the UConn Co-op’s commitment to public engagement, innovation, and social impact.

What can you do with a Change Grant?• Engage in a service initiative that benefits the UConn community or the broader community

• Conduct research that has the potential to benefit the UConn community or the broader community, address community needs, inform policy, or impact practice

• Engage in an artistic endeavor or creative intervention that addresses social issues

• Design and/or prototype a product, device, or service that fills an unmet need, impacts the lives of others, and/or addresses a social or environmental problem

Projects need to be student-designed and/or student-led. Applications are accepted from individuals and from small groups (no more than 3 people) who will be working collaboratively or co-leading an initiative.

2019-20 Application Deadlines:

• Monday, September 30, 2019

• Monday, February 10, 2019

More information on the Change Grant, program eligibility, and the application process can be found at https://ugradresearch.uconn.edu/change.

Are you interested in research but not sure how to get started? Join us to identify your goals for your participation in research and to develop a strategy for pursuing research opportunities at UConn and beyond.

For more information, please visit the Office of Undergraduate Research website: https://ugradresearch.uconn.edu/.

If you require an accommodation to participate in this session, please contact Jodi Eskin at jodi.eskin@uconn.edu by September 12, 2019.

The series is open to all undergraduate and graduate students and is designed especially for students conducting (or interested in conducting) undergraduate STEM research.

If you require an accommodation to participate in a STEM Seminar event, please contact Jodi Eskin at 860-486-7939 or jodi.eskin@uconn.edu at least 5 business days prior to the seminar. This is an Honors Event. Categories: Career, Professional, & Personal Development or Academic & Interdisciplinary Engagement #UHLevent419

Join us to learn more about the National Science Foundation Graduate ResearchFellowship Program (NSF GRFP) , an important graduate program funding opportunityfor students studying in STEM and many social science fields. Theseprograms are open to applications from rising seniors, alumni, and graduatestudents within their first or second year of graduate study. Deadlines are in late October, so get a headstart by learning from this panel of current UConn NSF GRFP. Panelists will share their experiences with these application processes,strategies for addressing the selection criteria, and other perspectives onprogram benefits.

NSF GRFP at-a-glance:

Eligibility overview (not a complete list, for full details, please see (https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2018/nsf18573/nsf18573.htm):Applicants must be U.S. citizens, nationals, or permanent residents,Intend to enroll or be enrolled full-time in a research-based graduate degree program in an eligible Field of Study. Eligible fields include (not a complete list, please see please see (https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2018/nsf18573/nsf18573.htm):STEM fields: Chemistry, Computer & Information Sciences & Engineering, Engineering, Geosciences, Life Sciences, Materials Research, Mathematical Sciences, Physics & Astronomy, Psychology, STEM Education & Learning ResearchSocial Science fields: Archaeology, Biological Anthropology, Communications, Cultural Anthropology, Decision Making and Risk Analysis, Economics, Geography, History and Philosophy of Science, International Relations, Law and Social Science, Linguistic Anthropology, Linguistics, Medical Anthropology, Political Science, Public Policy, Science Policy, Sociology, Urban and Regional PlanningUndergraduate seniors and bachelor’s degree holders may apply before enrolling in a degree-granting graduate program.Graduate students enrolled in a degree-granting graduate program are limited to only one application to the GRFP, submitted in the first year or at the beginning of the second year of their degree program.Funding overview: Each Fellowship consists of three years of support during a five-year fellowship period. Currently, NSF provides a stipend of $34,000 to the Fellow and a cost-of-education allowance of $12,000 to the graduate degree-granting institution for each Fellow who uses the fellowship support in a fellowship year.

The Holster Scholar Program is a highly-selective enrichment opportunity for curious first-year Honors Students that supports in-depth, individualized learning experiences in the summer following a student's first year. The eleven 2019 Holster Scholars will be sharing their research projects at this event.

The symposium, which kicks off at 8:30AM, will be broken up into three sessions: